Rotary package holder for attachment to shelves



W. M, 1950 G. D. WIEPERT 2,529,581

ROTARY PACKAGE HOLDER FOR ATTACHMENT T0 SHELVES Filed May 2'7, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l I L -r 18 f i #8 [21 Nov. 141, 1950 G.'D. WlEPERT 2,529,581

ROTARY PACKAGE HOLDER FOR ATTACHMENT T0 SHELVES Filed May 27, 1947 t 2 Sheeis-Sheet 2 Z9 Z6 3MB 21' 31 m.

Patented Nov. 14, 1950 ROTARY PACKAGE HOLDER FOR ATTACHMENT TO SHELVES George D. Wiepert,'Branford, Conn., assignor to The Merriam Manufacturing Company, Durham, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 27, 1947, Serial No. 750,763

The present invention relates to improvements in package-holders and relates'more particularly to improvements in rotary package-holding as semblies which are adapted for attachment to shelves or the like in order to make packages or other materials more readily available for observation and selection.

The rotary package-holding assembly of the present invention constitutes an improvement of the structure disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,235,- 660 dated March 18, 1941.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a superior rotary packageholding assembly which ma be readily secured to a shelf or the like by relatively-unskilled persons and with easily ascertained clearances to permit free rotation.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly-useful and convenient rotary package-holding assembly which may be produced at a low cost for manufacture.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the, art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of a rotary packageholding assembly embodying the present invention and shown as mounted upon a shelf, which latter is broken away;

' Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a broken transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 but on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the mountingmember detached; and

Fig. 5 is a broken detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 but on a larger scale.

The rotary package-holding assembl illustrated in the accompanying drawings for purposes of making clear a preferred form of the present invention, includes two main elements, namely, a pan-shaped mounting-member H which is normally stationary and a pan-shaped package-tray I!) which is rotatable with respect to the said mounting-member, in the manner as will hereinafter appear.

In the instance shown, the package-tray i0 is of circular outline and includes a bottom wall l2 and a shallow guard-flange I3 integral with and projectingupwardly from the peripheral portion of the said bottom wall i2.

2 Claims. (Cl. 311-17) The package-tray I0 is preferably formed of sheet metal or other suitable resilient material and has the central portion of its bottom wall l2 depressed to provide a shallow upwardly-opening recess M for purposes as will hereinafter appear. The central portion of the recess I 4' just referred to is deflected downwardly to pro-. vide a bearing-sleeve 15 which fits over and turns upon the upper portion of a tubular stud l6 having its upper surface located slightly below the plane of the main portion of the bottom wall 12 of the package-tray 10. The said stud I6 is formed at its lower end with a relatively-large head H which is seated in a downwardly-opening recess [8 formed by upwardly deflecting the central portion of the bottom wall I9 of the mounting-member ll. Preferably and as shown in Fig. 3, the recess [8 is just a sufiicient depth to enable the lower face of the head I"! of the stud IE to lie flush with the under face of the bottom wall IS. The central portion of the material of the recess I8 is deflected upwardly to provide a sleeve 20 embracing the main portion of the stud l6 proper.

The stud I6 may be rigidly coupled to the mounting-member H in any suitable manner such, for instance, as by spot welding, riveting or force fitting.

In addition to its bottom Wall IS, the mounting-member ll includes a shallow guard-flange 2i integral with and projecting upwardly from the peripheral portion of the said bottom wall l-9.

Preferably, the mounting-member ll like the package-tray I0, is formed of sheet metal or other suitable material.

At four (more or less) equidistant points adjacent the guard-flange 2|, the bottom wall l9 of the mounting-member II is slitted along a curved line and the adjacent material is deflectecl upwardly into parallelism with the guardfiange 2| to provide at each of the said locations one of four supporting-fingers 22. Mounted in and extending radially between each of the sup porting fingers 22 and the adjacent portion of the guard-flange 2| is one of four similar shafts 23 located well above the bottom wall l9 and each having one of four similar rollers 24 turn-' ing thereon. The rollers 24 just referred to are preferably made of rubber or similar composition, though they may be made of other materials such, for instance, as metal.

The bottom wall [9 of the mounting-member H, is preferably formed at equidistant points with four (more or less) holes 25 which, undercer tain conditions, may receive screws or other as:

its upper end, the tubular studis formed in its periphery with an annular re-' taining-groove 26 which is adapted to receive the portion of a latch-member 2'! immediatelysurrounding an arcuate notch 28 therein.

The latch-member 2'! above referred to ma be.

conveniently formed of springy sheet metal and as shown, is mounted for pivotal movement against the upper face of the bottom wall of the recess I4 by means of a stud 29 or other suitable pivot-means. At its free end the-latchmember 21 has riveted therein a short stud 30 providing a finger-piece 3| by means of which the latch-member may be swung back and. forth between the positions in which it is indicated by full lines and by broken lines respectively in Fig. 1.

For the purpose of releasably holding the latchmember 2'! in its latching position (full lines in Fig. 1), the bottom wall of the recess I4 in the package-tray If! is depressed to form a detent recess 32 which is adapted to receive the projecting rounded lower end of the finger-piece stud 30. Preferably, the retaining-groove 26 in the stud I6 is so located as to require the slight downward springing of the bottom wall I2 of the packagetray ID in order to enable the latch-member to be swung into the said retaining-groove. In this manner, the package-tray IQ is firmly seated against the rollers 24 and objectionable noise is thus substantially obviated when the said package-tray is turned. I

The assembly comprising the package-traylO and mounting-member II may be secured to a shelf such as 33 by means of a long screw 34 or other suitable fastening-device extending down through the central passage in the-tubular stud I6, as is especially well shown in Fig. 3. Preferably and as shown, the upper end of the stud I6 is countersunk as at 35 to accommodate the head of the screw 34 which is preferably of the flathead type.

If desired, additional screws (not shown) may be screwed downwardly through the holes 25 in the bottom wall I9 of the mounting-membe II.

The assembly above described may be installed with proper clearances to permit the rotation of the package-tray I0 by leaving the said packagetray and mounting-member assembled and held in such condition by the releasable latch-member 21. Thus, an unskilled person may locate the assembly upon a shelf 33 or the like with due reference to clearance between the back or side walls, if any, of a cabinet of which the shelf may form a part, whereupon the installer may than merely insert the screw 34 or its equivalent downwardly through the tubular stud I6 to thus lock the assembly in place. If the package-tray is to carry relatively-heavy packages, the installer may then retire the latch-member 21 into the position in which it is indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1 and then remove the package-tray I0 from the stud I6. This action will then make available the holes 25 in the bottom wall I9 of the mounting-member I I, through which holes additional screws may be inserted intothe shelf 33 if desired. Y 7

The package-tray I0 may subsequently be remounted upon the stud I6 and when its bottom wall I2 is slightly flexed downwardly, the latchmember 21 may be re-engaged with the retaining-groove 26 in the stud I6.

The package-tray I0 may now be freely rotated with respect to the mounting-member I I and the shelf 33 to bring desired packages into the most available position for observation and selection.

When it is desired to clean the package-tray I 0 or to remove the same in order to transport its contents to anothe location, the latch-member ZI'may be retired and the operation referred to effected.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and esssential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A rotary package-holding assembly, including in combination: a plate-like mounting-memher having a fiat bottom surface arranged to engage on and to be attached to the upper surface of a shelf or the like and having an upwardlyprojecting tubular stud, the said tubular stud being provided with a vertical passage extending therethrough from top to bottom and adapted to receive a headed screw or like fastening-member which is extendible downwardly into a shelf to secure the said mounting-member thereto, the head of said screw being of less diameter than the diameter of said stud; a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation about substantially-radial axes upon the said plate-like mounting-member in position to support the hereinafter-mentioned package-holder; a plate-like rotary packageholder located above the said mounting-member and resting upon the said plurality of rollers, the said package-holder having an apertured bearing-portion detachably engageable with and bearing, for rotation, upon the said tubular stud in a plane below the upper end thereof, the aperture in the said bearing-portion being sufficiently large to permit the package-holder to be moved vertically over the upper end of the said stud and the head of said vertical screw; and manually-operable latch-means pivotally mounted on said pack age-holder and engageable with the upper end'of said stud to releasably hold the said rotary package-holder against vertical displacement with respect to the said tubular stud.

2. A rotary package-holding assembly, including in combination: a pan-like mounting memher having a flat bottom surface arranged to engage on and to be attached to the upper surface of .a shelf or the like and having a bottom wall and a peripheral flange extending upwardly from the outer edge thereof, the said bottom wall being pierced and bent upwardly at a plurality of circumferentially-spaced points to form a plurality of supporting-fingers each spaced inwardly of and extending in substantial parallelism with the said peripheral flange; the said mounting-memher being provided centrally with an upwardlyprojecting tubular stud having a vertical passage extending therethrough from top to bottom and adapted to receive a headed screw or like fastening-member which is extended downwardly into a shelf, the head of said screw being of less diam-- eter than thediamet'erofsaid stud; a plurality,

of rollers respectively mounted for rotation between the flange of the said mounting-member and one of the said supporting-fingers and being located in a position to support the hereinafter mentioned package-holder; a plate-like rotary package-holder located above the said mountingmember and resting upon the said plurality of rollers, the said package-holder having an apertured bearing-portion detachably engageable with and bearing, for rotation, upon the said tubular stud in a plane below the upper end thereof, the aperture in the said bearing-portion being sufficiently large to permit the package-holder to be moved vertically over the upper end of the said stud and the head of said vertical fasteningmember; and manually-operable latch-means pivotally mounted on said package-holder and engageable with the upper end of said stud to releasably hold the said rotary package-holder against vertical displacement with respect to the 20 said tubular stud and the said plurality of rollers.

GEORGE D. WIEPERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

